Notaries: House Prices Rose By 1.9% YoY In March

18 May 2016 – El Economista

The average house price amounted to €1,261/sqm in March, up by 1.9% with respect to the same month in 2015, according to data from the General Council of Notaries, which reflects an increase in house sales of 5.8% during the period.

Specifically, the notaries registered 38,674 transactions during the third month of the year. By type of home, the sale of flats rose by 4% and by 5.2% in the case of unsubsidised apartments.

The recovery in sales of the latter is due solely to an increase in the sale of second-hand flats, by 8.5% YoY, given that transactions involving new apartments experienced a YoY decline of 18.5%. Meanwhile, the sale of family homes rose by 13%.

Prices increase, as well as sales

In terms of prices, the cost per sqm of the homes purchased in March amounted to €1,261/sqm, which represents an increase of almost 2% YoY. This rise is explained by the increase in the prices of family homes (+7%) and flats (+1.2%).

Meanwhile, the price per sqm of unsubsidised homes rose by 2%. Within this segment, the price of second-hand homes amounted to €1,361/sqm (+1.1%) and of new homes stood at €1,678/sqm (+10.7%).

Finally, the sale of other properties in March amounted to 9,262 operations (+1.2%), of which 37% corresponded to land and plots. The average price of these transactions reached €316/sqm (+96.8%).

Increase in loans

In another vein, the evolution of the mortgage market for the acquisition of homes reflects the recovery in the real estate sector, registering an increase in total loans.

In this way, the number of mortgages granted during the month of March was 29,642, which represents a YoY increase of 4.2%. The average amount of those loans was €153,929, reflecting a YoY rise of 6.2%.

Meanwhile, the number of mortgages granted for the acquisition of properties grew by 16.5% YoY, to 19,611, due to an increase in the granting of loans to purchase homes (+17.1%), as well as a rise in the loans approved for the acquisition of other properties (+10.4%).

Meanwhile, the average amount of these loans reached €134,881 (+5.9%). In the case of homes, the average capital loaned was €125,265, up by 2.7%, and for other properties, the average loan amounted to €240,336, having increased by 29.1%.

More financing for the construction sector

Loans allocated to the construction sector increased by 2.3% YoY in March, to 472 loans in total. The average amount was €277,491, taking the YoY increase to 7%. Meanwhile, the average amount of the loans granted to construct a home rose by 13.7% to €227,582.

Finally, the percentage of homes financed using a mortgage amounted to 46.7%. Moreover, for this type of financing purchase, the loan amount accounted for 78.7% of the property value, on average.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake